Earlier the crew said the ship could not sail to Spain while it was overcrowded, and conditions at sea were deteriorating.

Among the migrants are seven pregnant women, 11 young children and 123 unaccompanied minors.

The minors are aged between 13 and 17 and come from Eritrea, Ghana, Nigeria and Sudan, according to a journalist on the ship, Anelise Borges.

Fifteen migrants have serious chemical burns and several suffered hypothermia, according to MSF.

Italy defiant

Italian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio shrugged off the French criticism. “I’m glad the French have discovered responsibility: if they want, we will help them,” he said. “Let them open their ports and we will transfer a few of the people to France.”